Pushing the government to the brink of a partial shutdown, the White House is insisting that Congress provide $5 billion to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border despite lawmaker resistance from both parties. Without a resolution, parts of the federal government will shut down at midnight Friday. “We’re going to do whatever is necessary to build the border wall to stop this ongoing crisis of illegal immigration,” White House senior adviser Stephen Miller said Sunday.

Dozens of state and federal law enforcement officers descended on a rural Colorado property belonging to the fiancé of missing mom Kelsey Berreth as police pleaded with him to cooperate. “We are asking Patrick [Frazee] to sit down with investigators since he is the last person to speak to Kelsey face to face,” Woodland Park Police Chief Miles De Young said Friday. Berreth, a 29-year-old flight instructor, has been missing since Thanksgiving Day.

An Afghan peace negotiations team has arrived in Abu Dhabi, an official said Tuesday, a day after talks attended by US and Taliban representatives were held in the city aimed at ending the 17-year conflict. The team, led by chief negotiator Abdul Salam Rahimi, "arrived in Abu Dhabi to begin proximity dialogue with the Taliban delegation and to prepare for a face-to-face meeting between the two sides", the Afghan presidential spokesman Haroon Chakhansuri tweeted. The 12-person team was first announced in November by President Ashraf Ghani as part of a diplomatic effort to bring the Taliban to the table for peace talks with the government in Kabul.

Shortly before a 7-year-old Guatemalan girl died in U.S. custody, her father signed a form stating that his daughter was in good health. But it's unclear how much the man understood on the form, which was written in English and read to him in Spanish by Border Patrol agents. The death of Jakelin Caal highlights the communication challenges along the U.S.-Mexico border as agents come in contact with an increasing number of migrants who speak neither English nor Spanish.

Egyptian officials said they have discovered a 4,400-year-old tomb linked to the fifth dynasty of pharoahs. According to Egypt's Ministry of Antiquities, the tomb — located at a site west of Cairo in Saqqara — belonged to a senior official of the pharoahs, reports The Associated Press. Antiquities Minister Khaled al-Anani tells CNN the tomb belonged to a royal purification priest named Wahtye.

Renault's interim chairman Philippe Lagayette said on Friday that its board had not considered replacing Ghosn, who was ousted by Nissan days after his arrest in Japan in November, as head of the French carmaker. "We hope the board will listen to our explanation," Nissan Chief Executive Hiroto Saikawa told reporters after a board meeting of the Japanese carmaker at which it confirmed plans to strengthen corporate governance following the Ghosn crisis. Although sources familiar with the matter say Nissan has briefed Renault lawyers on its findings relating to Ghosn's alleged misconduct, Renault directors have yet to be given access to the full information.

The Super Sonic Car was set to raise the land speed record bar with the vehicle finished and undergoing final testing, but the project was stopped in its tracks when funding ran out. Related Video: Watch the Bloodhound SSC Team Show off Car Months of administration failed to find an investor willing to supply the £25 million ($31.5 million) required to set what might be the last record of this kind. Time was called on Bloodhound and we all shed a tear over a hard-fought challenge that seemingly fell at the final hurdle.

Chili’s social media department is getting ribbed after it weighed in on North Carolina’s election fraud scandal ― without really understanding it. It all started Monday when Andrew Bates, a spokesperson for the progressive super PAC American Bridge, offered a Chili’s gift certificate to North Carolina GOP Executive Director Dallas Woodhouse with a caveat: Stop trying to seat Republican congressional candidate Mark Harris, whose election has been marred by ballot fraud allegations. Woodhouse didn’t respond, but Chili’s social media person did and aggressively attempted to do some promotion piggybacking on Bates’ tweet.

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump sent a supportive message Tuesday to former national security adviser Michael Flynn, hours before Flynn's sentencing for lying to the FBI in the Russia investigation. "Good luck today in court to General Michael Flynn," Trump tweeted as he again protested the investigation that has ensnared several members of his 2016 campaign and administration, including ex-campaign chairman Paul Manafort. "Will be interesting to see what he has to say, despite tremendous pressure being put on him, about Russian Collusion in our great and, obviously, highly successful political campaign," Trump added.

A suspected gas explosion destroyed wooden buildings housing a restaurant and a real estate office in northern Japan on Sunday night, injuring 42 people, police and local media said. The powerful explosion in Sapporo, the capital city of Japan's northern main island of Hokkaido, shook nearby buildings, shattered windows and scattered wooden debris across the area. One person was in serious condition, but police said the other injuries were mostly mild.

Russia has cut its military flights in Syria from more than 100 per day to fewer than four a week, the defence minister said Tuesday, in another sign the country's conflict is winding down. Russia launched air strikes in Syria in support of long-term ally President Bashar al-Assad in September 2015. Russian support helped Assad's forces reclaim swathes of territory once in the hands of opposition fighters and Islamic extremists.

You might think closing a credit card or other account might remove it from your credit report automatically. But while closing an account prevents you from using it, that doesn't mean it disappears from your credit history. Credit reports include information for both open and closed accounts.

Canada is looking for a way out of a $13 billion deal to export armored vehicles to Saudi Arabia -- a move the company warns could leave the government liable for billions. In a television interview Sunday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the government was looking for a way to halt the sale of armored vehicles manufactured by a unit of U.S.-based General Dynamics Corp. We are engaged with the export permits to try and see if there is a way of no longer exporting these vehicles to Saudi Arabia,” Trudeau told CTV, without elaborating.

Members of a group of Honduran migrants, which included a mother who had been photographed running with her daughters from tear gas several weeks ago, began seeking asylum at the U.S. border with Mexico on Monday, according to a Reuters witness and lawyers for the group. The group comprised mostly teens but also included Maria Meza and her children, the lawyers said. The family appeared in a widely circulated photograph taken by Reuters as they fled tear gas thrown by U.S. authorities during a protest at the border last month when some migrants rushed the U.S. fence.

It may not be the star of Bethlehem, but there’s a bright green comet passing Earth by just in time for Christmas. On a clear night, you might even be able to spot it with the naked eye ― if you know where to look. Comet 46P/Wirtanen, a.k.a.

Elon Musk on Tuesday took a break from futuristic electric cars and private space travel to unveil a low-cost tunnel he sees as a godsend for city traffic. The billionaire behind Tesla and SpaceX late Tuesday put the spotlight on the a 1.14 mile (1.8 kilometer) tunnel created by his Boring Company for about $10 million. The sample tunnel is part of Musk's vision to have an underground network that cars, preferably Teslas, can be lowered to by lifts then slotted into tracks and propelled along at speeds up to 150 mph (241 kmh).

SEOUL – North Korea has warned that new U.S. sanctions on three of its top officials could “block the path to denuclearization on the Korean peninsula forever” and could result in a return to “exchanges of fire. The warning came days after the Treasury Department imposed the fresh sanctions on the three – who include Choe Ryong Hae, seen as North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s right hand-man – citing continuing human rights abuses, censorship and the death last year of American prisoner Otto Warmbier.

In a story Dec. 13 about the pope's May travel schedule, The Associated Press reported erroneously that Bulgaria is a former Soviet republic. During the Cold War, Bulgaria was one of the Soviet allies that formed the Warsaw Pact. A corrected version of the story is below: Pope to visit Bulgaria, Macedonia in May in busy travel year Pope Francis is travelling in May to the Orthodox countries of Bulgaria and Macedonia, where he will pay tribute to Macedonian-born Mother Teresa, officials said Thursday VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis is travelling in May to the Orthodox countries of Bulgaria and Macedonia, where he will pay tribute to Macedonian-born Mother Teresa, officials said Thursday.

New Zealand warned Google to "take responsibility" for its news content Wednesday, after the internet giant broke a court order suppressing the name of a man charged with murdering a British backpacker. An Auckland court granted the man interim name suppression this month but Google revealed his identity in an email to subscribers of its "what's trending in New Zealand?" service. Justice Minister Andrew Little said the breach was unacceptable and he had made his views known to Google executives at a meeting in parliament on Tuesday night.

AAA predicts that more than one-third of Americans will travel this holiday season, so knowing the best and worst times for traffic and weather can cut down your trip time. According to AAA, the record-breaking 112.5 million travelers taking to the nation's runways, roads and rails for the year-end holidays represents a 4.4 percent increase over last year and the most since AAA has been tracking holiday travel. "'Tis the season for holiday travel, and more Americans than ever will journey to spend time with friends and family or choose to take a vacation," said Bryan Shilling, managing director, AAA Travel products and services.

After his office said first that Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn would propose a no-confidence motion in May -- and then said that he didn’t need to because she’d announced a date for a vote -- he has now said he’ll propose such a motion immediately. This is a motion of no confidence in May, not in her government, so it’s not the type that could potentially trigger a general election. For that reason it has a greater chance of passing, as some Conservatives opposed to May’s Brexit strategy might vote for it.

U.S. and Taliban officials have discussed proposals for a six-month ceasefire in Afghanistan and a future withdrawal of foreign troops as talks aimed at setting up peace negotiations went into a second day, Taliban sources said. The meeting in Abu Dhabi is at least the third time that U.S. special peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad has met Taliban representatives as diplomatic efforts to end the 17-year war have intensified this year. Taliban officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the U.S. delegation was pressing for a six-month truce as well as an agreement to name Taliban representatives to a future caretaker government.